Beagá, or Belzonte, is the Brazilian capital of bars. At least that’s what the miners say — and I see no reason to doubt them. Once in Belo Horizonte, visitors must reserve at least one day to go from bar to bar, have a snack and drink.
If boteco is serious business in Minas, I needed to give the drinking a professional buff. So I called Nenel, a celebrity from the bohemia of Belo Horizonte, owner of the Baixa Gastronomia Instagram profile, with 179,000 followers. Professional Consulting.
Our route would start at 11 am on a Friday. In the morning, because professional. By early evening, we’d pass four bars that represent different aspects of the city’s bar culture.
It seems little, but it is not. The professional drinker needs to acclimatize, to feel the spirit of the bar — something impossible if you spill a glass, pay the bill and pour. And, as I would discover that afternoon with Nenel, for the miner, conversation is as important as food and drink. It’s the PPP triplet: drip, pururuca and prose.
Prose was lacking the day before, when I went to see Café Palhares. It’s a tiny spot, just a U-shaped counter, without tables, since 1938 in downtown Beagá, and famous for just one dish.
The dish is known as kaol, which is an acronym. “A” for rice, “o” for egg, “l” for sausage. The “k” stands for “kachaça”, but the “kaninha” must be ordered separately. The PF also takes beans farofa, crackling and a scoop of tomato sauce. And “kouve”. The sausage can be exchanged for other meats, such as pork shank and beef tongue.
I bet on the original recipe, accompanied by a chopinho and a cachacinha. Good, but far from spectacular.
Palhares is a very high turnover pub. You get your seat, order, receive your food in two minutes, swallow it, pay and leave, because there are people standing outside, watching your stool. If you try to talk, spit farofa at others. It’s perfect for a lunch that needs to be quick, but a bit nervous for those who are on a trip.
The next day would be intense, but calmer. I met Nenel at Quintal do Degas, a makeshift bar in a favela in the Lagoinha neighborhood, close to downtown.
It was in Lagoinha that the workers hired to build the capital of Minas Gerais settled, a city planned and completed at the end of the 19th century. Italian immigrants mixed with people from all regions of the state, and Lagoinha became an area of strong vocation Bohemia.
Even today, people from Belo Horizonte call the American glass, low and fluted, an essential accessory for the root beer drinker as lagoinha. The name stuck because, when the glass appeared, its only distributor was in that neighborhood.
Lagoinha declined after the construction, in the 1960s, of a viaduct complex that demolished a good part of the houses. The “coliseum”, one of the nicknames that the figure Degas gives to the bar itself — is not easy to find. You get out of the car in front of an alley and you must walk and ask until someone knows the location of the pub.
Despite the small problems, it is a safe place that attracts a curious mix of alternative players and football players. The goalkeepers score because Degas – nickname for Leonardo Gonçalves dos Reis – is a great friend of former Atlético defender Dedê, who took him to live in Germany when he was hired by Dortmund Borussia.
When I arrived, luckily, Degas’ four rottweilers were trapped. As you can see on the bar’s Instagram, the dogs also often have fun in the pool that he makes available to customers.
Nenel was already having a beer at the wooden table, which is actually one of those giant spools for carrying electrical wires. Degas joined us and started telling hilarious stories from the German times. Then he called Priscilla, his sister.
What Degas has in gogó, Priscila has in culinary talent. She brought us a fabulous crackling roll (R$30), nicknamed “croc”, tasty kibbehs (R$40, ten units) and a portion of shrimps in a sour and spicy sauce (R$25), which Nenel named “Caribbeans”.
From there we went —Degas included— to the Serra neighborhood, an affluent region adjacent to Savassi, more famous for outsiders. At the Establishment bar, the specialty is rice balls. Calm down, it’s not just any rice ball.
The owner of the establishment, Olivio Cardoso Filho —or rather, —Livinho, told us about the work he had to train the kitchen staff until the dumplings came out identical to the ones his mother, Dona Lurdinha, made at home.
There are three recipes, all for R$ 42 for a portion of eight units. The classic version takes canasta cheese and other breguetes. Flawless. The other two are enhanced with eggplant and taioba, two delicacies that are not easily found in São Paulo.
For the third pit stop, we headed, without Degas, to the bucolic Santa Tereza. Nivaldo’s mercearia —official name: Mercadinho Bicalho, surname of —Nivas is located in a square with an interior feel. It’s an old-fashioned sale, with crates of bottles everywhere, where you can get things like batteries and razor blades.
Nenel took me to Nivaldo to eat the meatballs (R$20). in the singular. Just a ball of meat, very well served, bathed in tomato sauce, with grated cheese, toasted cornmeal and boiled potato. Like Livinho’s rice ball, Nivas’ meatball is out of this world.
We returned to Serra when the afternoon was falling and the outdoor tables at Bolota’s, a popular phenomenon, were almost all occupied for happy hour. Leonardo Ribeiro, aka Bolota, is an extroverted, funny, friendly and, of course, chubby guy. His eyes pop out of their sockets as he gets excited in the conversation.
The bar’s most famous snack, the prexeca (R$9.90), consists of a disc of beef, fresh pork and bacon, breaded, fried and served with a lemon wedge. Very good seasoning, but at that point the beer and the other ranges were already spoiling your judgment.
Nenel left to record his radio show and left me chatting with Bolota. He spoke of his intention to open a bar in São Paulo. He asked if Interlagos was a good location, and I gave a thousand empty arguments to say no, it was a bad neighborhood.
It was just small talk to convince him that the west side is really good. Conveniently close to my house. Just imagine, what a luxury, a bar in BH just around the corner?
SERVICE
Palhares Coffee. R. dos Tupinambás, 638, Centro. Phone: (31) 3201-1841
Degas’ backyard. R. 15 de Abril, 75, Lagoinha Tel.: (31) 98889-9681
Establishment. R. Monte Alegre, 160, Serra. Phone: (31) 3223-2124
Nivaldo’s Grocery/Bicalho Market. R. Marble, 556, Santa Teresa. Phone: (31) 3482-2357
Acorn’s Sierra. R. Capivari, 439, Serra. Phone: (31) 98552-1011
I am currently a news writer for News Bulletin247 where I mostly cover sports news. I have always been interested in writing and it is something I am very passionate about. In my spare time, I enjoy reading and spending time with my family and friends.
